Positron-Emission Tomography

**Definition:** An imaging technique using compounds labelled with short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides (such as carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15 and fluorine-18) to measure cell metabolism. It has been useful in study of soft tissues such as CANCER; CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM; and brain. SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY is closely related to positron emission tomography, but uses isotopes with longer half-lives and resolution is lower.

**Tree numbers:** - E01.370.350.350.800.700 - E01.370.350.600.350.800.399 - E01.370.350.710.800.399 - E01.370.350.825.800.399 - E01.370.384.730.800.399

**Synonyms:** - PET Imaging - Positron-Emission Tomography Imaging - PET Scan - Tomography, Positron-Emission